This article is part of our CS:GO Recap series.
The first day of CS Summit, a laid-back and informal Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament, got underway Thursday. Taking place inside the Summit House in Los Angeles, the initial upper bracket rounds proceeded with a series of pretty one-sided matchups.
SK Gaming opened the day with a series against Team EnVyUs that was the most lopsided of the day, which was saying something with the way Day 1 transpired. Game 1 was on Cache and saw SK quickly get out to an 8-4 lead in the first half. Things proceeded along those lines for the remainder of the first half and on into the second half to give SK a 16-9 win for an early 1-0 lead. The second game was on Mirage, and EnVyUs was even more worse for wear. Winning just three rounds in the first half, the French squad essentially threw in the towel and didn't tally any wins in the second half as SK took the 16-3 win to move on to the next round. Marcelo "coldzera" David led the way for SK with an out-of-this-world 50/15 KD (kills/deaths).
Gambit Esports and GODSENT were up next with another series that lasted just two games. The first frame of the series was tightly contested, with an overtime period deciding the winner. Gambit took a 7-3 lead in the first half on Cache before GODSENT won five straight to make it 8-7 at the half. The second half was another back-and-forth affair, with GODSENT fighting off 15-12 deficit to force overtime. Gambit stabilized in the extra frame, though, and took all four rounds for the 19-15 win. The loss seemed to break the will of GODSENT, as Gambit easily controlled Game 2 on Cobblestone from start to finish to pick up a 16-5 win and move on in the upper bracket.
A North American showdown was next on the docket, with OpTic Gaming taking on Cloud9. Although OptTic enjoyed great success at the tail end of 2016, the new year hasn't been kind to the Green Wall one bit, and that was no different in this series. Starting off on Cache, C9 jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the first half, as OpTic looked hapless from the start. OpTic started the second half strong and won six of the first eight rounds, but C9 easily picked up the last few rounds it needed to take the map. Moving to Mirage for Game 2, OpTic looked even more lost in the first half as C9 raced out to a 14-1 lead. Once again, OpTic made a fruitless attempt to come back before C9 finished up the game, this time for a 16-6 win. Jake "Stewie2k" Yip was on fire for C9, posting a 54/29 KD and 111.3 ADR (average damage per round).
We were treated to a full three-game series for the first time when Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team Liquid stepped to the screens. The teams started off on Nuke and went back and forth in the first half before NiP took an 8-7 lead into the break. Liquid stabilized in the second half with a 9-2 performance to take the map 16-10 and go up 1-0 in the series. Moving onto Inferno, NiP was able to shake off the rust of Game 1 to put on a nice show in Game 2. The Swedish squad rushed out to a 12-3 lead at the half before using a few more rounds in the second half to secure the 16-7 win and force a decisive Game 3. Despite faltering in Game 2, Liquid was on top of its game in a major way in the final game on Cobblestone. NiP put up little resistance in the game as Liquid trounced the Swedes in an extremely quick series. It dominated the first half with a 12-3 lead and then needed just four rounds in the second half to finish up the win 16-3 to move on in the upper bracket.
The second day of competition will begin Friday at 12:30 p.m. ET with the first round of the lowers bracket between Team EnVyUs and OpTic Gaming.
